Phoenix Tears
by SailorSilvanesti
Summary: "I never thought… they could die." The very word set his teeth on edge, a shiver to course through his spine… but for whatever he felt, he was certain that the other felt so much worse… It showed in the voice, thick with emotion, that ground out, "But they did."" Neville tries to comfort the last survivor of the Golden Trio, Fire has stolen something precious, but he sees mu


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the associated Characters/trademarks.**

**This is the very last of the _Potterfied Quotes & Quips_ fanfic I wrote a short while ago, you see, I asked likers for quotes and such, then either potterfied them directly... or wrote a drabble for it.**

**This one, however, is my absolute favourite of all of them, and I felt that, such a beautiful story needed to be an actual fanfic, not the backend of a collection of drabbles... **Therefore, grab a box of tissues and ENJOY.

* * *

**~*Phoenix Tears*~**

**~)0(~**

* * *

**ORIGINAL QUOTE:**

**"I See You…"**

**-Jake Sully, AVATAR**

* * *

**POTTERFIED:**

**.**

Familiar hands traced gently over his face, and he allowed weary eyes to close, trying to sense… to feel …to _see_ what it was the other saw within his own mind's eye.

The Sword of Gryffindor slackened in his grip, clattering to the abandoned flagstones in the aftermath of battle… the wind brushed the last remnants of Voldemort high above them, far into the grey skies.

The flagstones were covered in rubble, abandoned but for them alone… the remaining survivors had borne bodies inside moments ago and were just now letting their relieved grief flow, wails rose in high keening from the mostly-destroyed castle and into the coming night. Although it seemed a sphere of silence was laid about the both of them, one sitting down in defeated weariness, the other, barely standing but leaning into the touch of human contact from the other.

.

"I wish I had seen it, you know…" whispered that other, sadly. Fingers danced over his forehead, smoothing away the lines of fatigue, fear and anger accrued in recent hours of battle. Neville hushed the other, "No, it's not your fault, you were with…" he paused with a wince, "… _the others_, I understand. I _really_, really do, it's just… I never thought… they could die."

The very word set his teeth on edge, a shiver to course through his spine… but for whatever he felt, he was certain that the other felt so much worse… It showed in the voice, thick with emotion, that ground out, "But they _did_. They're _gone_… gone to a place I can't follow, _heh_, and it seems that I am left alone _again_…"

.

Neville's heart constricted painfully for his friend. The battle had been terrifyingly short and brutal… so many had fallen… _friend, family, comrade_… but worst of all, the greatest casualty of all had been their_ hope_. The Golden Trio had fallen to an ambush as they raced to protect some trapped First and Second Years… _That _had been the one horrifying moment that had seemed to stretch into eternity, permanently burned into the minds of all who saw it…

Death Eaters led by the joint forces of Lucius Malfoy and -_that bitch_- Bellatrix Lestrange, had come striding across the courtyard towards the Trio. Laughter high and cold, echoing, drew their attention away from throwing hexes, curses, jinxes and the odd swear word towards Fenrir Greyback; whose slavering lupine brethren were threatening the younger students. Harry had turned first, green eyes wide behind the cracked frames of his somewhat bent black-rimmed glasses. His shouted warning was not quick enough…

For even as Hermione and Ron had whirled about, shielding charms flaring upwards and outwards from the tips of three separate wands… a dozen voices had screamed out in unison, "INCENDIO!" hurling flames towards the trio. An inferno swirled around the scene, somehow obscuring the events… but the results had been fairly obvious once the flames had cleared…

.

"I know what you're thinking, it's all over your face… I can feel it." said the voice that shocked Neville out of the recent memory; he jerked back and out of reach, eliciting a gasp from the other… whose fingers reflexively grasped out for the contact of another human being. Neville quickly moved back to his previous position, allowing the searching fingers to relax upon the skin of his grime-covered face, where the trembling stopped. Contact restored.

"I know you didn't see what happened next, but if you must know, it was…_awful_… and I'll never forget it, not a week from now, not a thousand years from now, it was probably the last thing I'll ever see." There was a high pitched laugh, strangled by a sob mere seconds later, as the emotion-thick voice rose to maniacal levels, "You could almost say the image was _burned into my brain_…" The sobbing laugh became a saddened wheeze, then a cough, and the fingers withdrew so the owner could curl themselves into a protective ball.

.

Lost for exactly what to do, Neville reached out and patted the other awkwardly on the closest shoulder, "I'm sorry I couldn't reach you in time… Voldemort kind of got in the way…" he whispered softly. An unsure hand waved in the wrong direction initially, then knocked his hand away… "Don't be stupid, you just saved the entire planet by killing _He-Who-Had-A-Snake-Fetish_. Even if you had somehow made it in time, you'd most likely be dead right now…and the world would have been rather screwed."

.

Neville leant in close to hear as the other spoke again in a soft, hollow voice, "With the incendiary curses shooting towards us, there was barely enough time to get any kind of defence up… the flames scorched through the gaps in our incomplete shield charms as they valiantly attempted to form and solidify against the heat. I… I heard Hermione scream, it was… it was just…" a shaking hand grabbed his wrist, squeezing like Neville was an anchor in the middle of a nightmarish memory. "Sh- she screamed so loudly as her hair caught fire… destroyed her concentration, the shield collapsed completely. I-… I got distracted too, when my best friend was screaming for his life, _for my help_, from behind me… but I couldn't move, I couldn't save Hermione… and I couldn't save him. I know I was screaming, the air was so full of the crackling of flames, and the lingering screams of the dead and dying… my wand nearly fell from my hand."

.

He was breathing harshly by now, and Neville found himself surreptitiously glancing around for Madam Pomfrey… before remembering she had been one of the first teachers to die under the Carrows' fire. With a start, he realised the other was gathering the courage to say the next words…

"It was in that split-second, _when I saw my two best friends in this entire goddamn world die_… that my concentration slipped, just for a second… and this one tendril of flame, white-hot and crackling, came through this little hole in my shield. I panicked, the shield faltered and the tendril kind of… snatched at me… like _fiendfyre_; the last thing I remember seeing was the horrified face of my best friend, burning alive, as the tendril struck me across the face. It just kept burning, and I think the screaming was coming from me… before it all went black." Trembling hands raised to their own face, touching the sad-looking burn… "Thought I was still unconscious when I woke, heard you make your speech though, it was all dark… but then I realised, it wasn't the world that was dark… just _my_ world. My eyes… magic can't fix this, I know that… because magic CAUSED the injury. I've already lost my family, now my two best friends… and I know it's selfish of me to think this way but, I just kind of wished I didn't look like…" The hands waved towards his face for emphasis, "…such a freak. Well, I assume from what I can feel it's freakish… not like I can bloody see it to tell or judge!"

.

Neville knelt, doing his best not to let his legs collapse completely as they had wanted to the second the adrenaline left, stretching out a hand to carefully tilt the other's face to the waning light for a better look… "Heh, don't be silly, it doesn't look that bad to be honest… just a bit red and heroic looking…"

A hand covered his own, "Well, at least now that I'm… I'm-… _blind_, I won't have to look at their pictures, the smiling faces hanging on a wall and reminding me of those I'll never see again… _how can they _all _be dead_?" Ron asked in a very small voice, sightless eyes turning to meet his own. Chewing his lip, Neville agonised over how best to answer… he'd personally witnessed the deaths of Fred, George and Ginny Weasley at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange; right before Mr and Mrs Weasley and their three eldest sons had met an unfortunate end in battle with the various supernatural creatures in Voldemort's employ. "Ron, if it's any consolation… they all died so quick, they probably _still _haven't realised they're dead yet… but Harry and Hermione… I'm so sorry, they were my friends too…"

.

Hands clenched in the dirty woollen fabric of his unusually patterned jumper, tight and unforgiving was the grip, "I can't say it's alright, because it isn't! Everything is so WRONG right now! My best friends are gone, my entire family is dead, _and-_… and I'm not even sure I can_ cry _anymore, looking like this!" Again the dull blue eyes were highlighted by a vague gesture in their direction that was obviously meant to be taken as a point to the sightless orbs; the areas around the eyes themselves seemed slightly burned… but otherwise intact.

Neville was looking on with scrutiny, suddenly finding himself to be smiling slightly… "I think I can answer that one for you… you already are, Ron…See?" he stretched out a hand and gently brushed away a lone tear with his thumb, exceptionally carefully. "Besides, the scar just makes you look more appealing-… uh, _daring_, or whatever it was the Hat said Gryffindors should look like…" his tone conveyed the lop-sided smile that Ron could not see.

.

There was an instinctive blink of surprise, then a wince at the action. "You find me appealing?" Ron asked in a very innocent _I'm-the-Twins'-Brother-and-will-be-milking-this-for-all-it's-worth_ manner, while Neville flushed scarlet. "Oh, I, uh… well you see…" he responded, flustered beyond belief.

Ron started to laugh, a weak sound in the decimation, but a welcome one. "No, actually, I don't." he threw back, laughing softly at the ridiculous pun. "Oh, I wish I could see your face right now! Cheeks flushed as pink as a freshly-spanked newborn's backside… eyes as round as saucers and an expression of horror… Hah ha hah!" Neville spluttered, "Baby's backside? Are you calling me ugly?" Ron laughed harder, then stopped quickly. "Your voice… you sound… _embarrassed_, not horrified… How long has it been?"

.

Deciding to screw his courage to the sticking place, Neville went for it… One of his hands rested gently on the redhead's face, "First of all, _screw_ your sudden super-senses for working out my little secret, and second… since second year; you really have no idea how beautiful you are… clever, funny, loyal… a Gryffindor. The only reason I didn't say anything until now was because… I, uh… _thoughtyouwerewithHarry_…"

Ron seemed unsure as to whether to laugh or cry, spluttering, "_Harry, really_? Neville, I can feel you blushing from back here and… Neville, you know I can't see anymore, don't you? Blind. As in B-L-I-N-D… _not of the seeing-ness_, and despite how horrible today has been, how many we've lost and how much I don't want to make this all about me… I look, uh, _feel_… well, rather like a freak. So _unless Hermione comes up with some super-rare magic object that Harry and I have to bust from the Ministry to fix my eyes, I suppose_-…Oh."

.

"You're still the Ron I love, you _idiotically self-righteous insanely reckless _ginger… and the next time you mention feeling like a freak, I shall have to do something that will _definitely_ permanently mentally scar whoever happens to see it… I can see you, Ron Weasley, for who and what you are…and that is enough for me." Neville stated with a deep-seated conviction born of his new ability to approach those he rather fancied… personally he blamed the Sword of Gryffindor. All this excess bravery was pumping through his system with every rapid pulse of his heart…

With fingers outstretched, Ron's questing hands made contact with Neville's face, dancing over the features again to read the expression there… to sense what the other was feeling; what he read there was a radiant smile full of hope, love, and a small fear of rejection…

.

With a gasp, Ron smiled and a fresh tear slid down one cheek as his soft voice whispered ecstatically, "_I… I see you, Neville…_ I don't know how, but I do… and don't be afraid, I'll never reject you… not in a million years." Their lips had almost met–awkwardly on Ron's part, as he nearly got Neville's left eyelid- when there came a shriek of horror behind them, Neville sighed and begged pardon, "Excuse me a moment…"

He tossed a curse over his shoulder, striking Bellatrix Lestrange dead in the centre of her forehead… she went down like a tonne of bricks to his obvious satisfaction. "You got the bitch?" Ron said, more a statement than a question, voice awed, pleased and full of a sudden arousal that was rather disturbing given the circumstances. Neville turned back to focus on the redhead, "Of course… she got what she deserved. Now… where were we…? Oh yeah… right about… _here._"

.

As their lips finally met in the middle of all this devastation, there came a scintillating cry… "Mr Longbottom, Mr Weasley… that will be 5 points each from Gryffindor for fraternisation…" They broke apart, and Ron's hands immediately jumped to Neville's face before cautioning, "Nev! You can't hex Professor McGonagall…"

.

Neville sighed, sometimes… Ron really could _see right through him_…

* * *

**~)0(~**

* * *

**~*The End.*~**

**I do hope you liked it.**

**Yes, I love the Neville/Ron Pairing, a lot...**

**If I could draw at all, I would make a picture of this scene... and photocopy it to the point where I would then wallpaper my room with it...**

**However, I cannot, so my imagination suffices...**

**Please REVIEW, if you feel so inclined...**

**~*SailorSilvanesti/Phoenix Fire*~**

PS, the '.' all through the story are merely because the editor took away all my paragraph spaces... so I MADE some.


End file.
